Microsoft Support & Discussions

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft today revealed that it intends to deliver Windows Phone 7.5, previously codenamed Mango, to customers in the next week or two. This indicates that development of the upgrade, which includes both Microsoft and partner code, is now complete. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott While the press is swooning over Windows 8 and its user experience advances for tablets and other personal computing devices, Microsoft has been quietly revving up the next version of Windows Server as well. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Google opened up its Facebook clone, Google+, to the public, ending a three-month invite-only beta period. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott This week on What The Tech: Paul takes a look back at Windows 8 now that it

By Paul Thurrott In its first post-BUILD blog post, Microsoft further discusses one of the more incredible things about Windows 8: Its ability to boot from a dead start in just seconds. While incredulous Mac users continue to insist that Windows 8’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it boot times must simply be fake, Microsoft says that’s not so. Windows 8 is just really, really fast. Source: Win Super Site

Skype for Windows now supports Microsoft’s Windows 8, Microsoft’s next Windows release, which is available to testers in Developer Preview form. Source: All About Microsoft

The Web is more interactive, fun, and immersive when sites work well with new input devices and touch screens. The Windows Developer Preview introduces support for handling touch and pen input in your sites and apps. Developers can now ensure their sites work well with touch and build powerful new experiences that make the most of advanced input such as multi-touch and gestures. You can see this in action on the IE Test Drive site in the new and updated demos Touch Effects, Lasso Birds, and Flying Images. Handling touch-first input without compromising mouse

By Paul Thurrott Perhaps the biggest news out of last week’s BUILD Conference was the thorough "Windows Phone-ification" of Windows 8. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft and Casio Computer have signed a patent-protection deal, resulting in Casio paying Microsoft an undisclosed amount for IP coverage for Linux-based devices. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott The new Windows 8 shell, as exemplified by the Start screen, works equally well with the keyboard and mouse, or with a Tablet PC-style stylus, as it does with touch. But because a mouse (or a similar device, like a laptop’s trackpad) will be the most commonly used pointing device in Windows 8, it makes sense to investigate how you use one in this supposedly touch-centric UI. Shocker: It works just fine. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Buried amid the flurry of announcements that Microsoft made at the E3 tradeshow earlier this summer was a quick reference to a coming live TV service called Xbox TV. At the time, the software giant promised it would provide more details later, but as the months have dragged on, precious little has emerged. So with the 2011 holiday season now officially looming, the obvious question we’re all wondering is, does Microsoft still plan to ship this service by the end of the year? Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Spain’s antitrust agency, the National Competition Commission, announced today that it is opening an antitrust investigation against Microsoft, alleging that the software giant’s Spanish and Irish subsidiaries are blocking the sale of software licenses by a third party. Source: Win Super Site

By Paul Thurrott Microsoft and Epic have released the third and allegedly final game in the Gears of War series today, imaginatively titled Gears of War 3. I’ll be reviewing this epic release by the end of the weekend, but in the meantime here are some screenshots to enjoy while I plug away at the single player campaign. Source: Win Super Site

Windows 8 Metro-style apps and Desktop apps are going to offer two different experiences. But both kinds of apps are going to be available on both x86/x64 and ARM PCs and tablets. Source: All About Microsoft

Microsoft has introduced a new developer concept known as “Contracts” with Windows 8. Think of it as a universal clipboard for apps and services that ties back to Internet Explorer 10. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott See why Windows 8

By Paul Thurrott Inspired by last week’s BUILD conference, Chris Preston has created some mockups of what the Steam video game service could look like on Windows 8. And ... oh my. These are beautiful. Source: Win Super Site

Microsoft’s official architectural diagram of Windows 8 has been a source of controversy since it debuted last week at Build. Here are some attempts to redraw and re-explain what’s going on under the covers with Windows 8 from around the Web. Source: All About Microsoft

By Paul Thurrott When Netflix announced what is essentially a price hike for its DVD and streaming services in July, customers reacted with outrage. I noted that we’d know whether that outrage was real or faux in the near future when Netflix’s subscriber numbers either did or did not change. Well, it’s real. Source: Win Super Site